Strong Birmingham Finish Beats Tigers
(Posted 12/05/08)

The score slightly flattered the home side at Perry Barr as a fighting Tigers side went down by 52-40 with the main threat in the form of an impressive display from Ross Brady.

Ross took the rider replacement ride in the opening heat an duly won it from the tapes with an electric gate.  It was a feat he was to duplicate in heat 2, albeit with the help of some dubious refereeing and a re-run.

The initial running saw Ross moving at the tapes trying to anticipate but when the tapes went  up it was the Birmingham pairing who hit the front.  Much to the disgust of the home fans, referee Chris Durno called them back for a re-run and this time Ross made a clean gate and won from the tapes.  Mitchell Davey was close to Roberts at the back but at this stage it looked as if there was only one line round the track and that any passing would be limited.

Heat 3 followed the pattern of the previous two, being won from the tapes but with Lyons well ahead at the front and Hargreaves getting the better of Dicken out of the gate at the back, the home side had their first heat advantage of the meeting.

In his third heat out of four, Ross Brady once again shot out of the gate and won easily with Adam Roynon suffering an engine failure on the opening lap.  More worryingly for the Tigers in this one though was that Robert Ksiezak appeared to be struggling at the back.

The very impressive Jason Lyons came out in heat 5 and not only blew the opposition away but set a new track record at the same time. The competitive action in this one was at the back, Mitchell Davey having outgated Jack Hargreaves, working hard to hold him off and highlighting that the track at this stage was only providing one line.  Hargreaves made a last desperate attempt to get round Mitch on the final bend but Mitch held the line and Hargreaves came off after going off the line.

Ross’s luck changed as he came out for heat 6, his bike packing in before reaching the tapes. Rather than jump on one of the other bikes being offered to him, Ross persevered trying to get his own bike going and as a result ended up missing the 2 minutes.  Tigers elected to put him off 15m, Ross jumped on Ben Hopwoods bike but retired on the opening lap.  A better gate form Robert saw him in second place, a position he held for three laps.  It looked as if he may have a bike problem as he seemed to get slower and slower and was unable to hold off Smart’s challenge on the third lap which gave Birmingham their  first 5-1 of the meeting.

Adam Roynon won a processional heat 7 from the gate with a rejuvenated Robert Ksiezak doing the same in heat 8.  However, heat 8 saw Brady finish second behind his team mate giving the Tigers their first – and what was to be their only – 5-1 of the meeting bringing them right back into the mix only two points down.

Heat 9 was shared with the impressive Jason Lyons winning easily. Mitchell was able to take advantage of an error from Jack Roberts who came off at the end of the opening lap to claim third place.

The track was now beginning to come good and the racing itself got better as a consequence. Glasgow’s Dicken and Stonehewer gated in heat 10.  Bager swept round the outside of both riders on the opening lap to take the lead with Smart following him past Dicken. It was a lead he held for less than a lap however as Stonehewer hit back and regained the lead on lap 2, going on to win a shared heat.

Another excellent gate from Ross Brady saw him hit the front in heat 11, Roynon splitting him and partner Trent Leverington.  However towards the end of lap one, Roynon appeared to find extra grip and absolutely flew past Brady, quickly opening up an unassailable lead. To make matters worse for the Tigers, Trent’s bike gave up the ghost on the second lap and what had initially looked like a Tigers heat advantage went the way of the home side.

Track grading during the interval improved the track further and the benefit was clear to see in the remaining races of the evening.

Jason Lyons continued to dominate, once again being untouchable as he won heat 12.  However an impressive ride from Jack Roberts saw a good 4 lap battle between him and Stonehewer for second place, Stoney just managing to hold on.

Tigers luck was to really run out on them in heat 13.  Ksiezak and Leverington hit the front and for 3 laps it looked as if Tigers would get their second 5-1 of the evening before the gremlins struck.  Leverington ran out of fuel due to what was later found to be a leaking fuel tank. Ksiezak was momentarily distracted by this and Roynon took full advantage to sweep round his outside and into the lead.

Now undeservedly 8 points down, Tigers brought Stonehewer into heat 14 to go as a TS off 15m in place of Lee Dicken who had been having a poor night.  His partner Ross Brady made yet another electric gate but was undoubtedly tiring by this stage and was passed by both Birmingham riders.  He then dropped back to allow his partner through and was unable to come back into the race.  Stonehewer meantime took full advantage of Ross’s actions, quickly rounding Hargreaves and chasing Smart all the way to the line, only loosing out on the with by a wheel.

Heat 15 was now a formality and it was also a procession with Lyons and Roynon recording another 5-1 from the gate, the final score making the home side look better than they actually were.

Ross Brady was undoubtedly Glasgow’s star man but he faded, understandably, towards the end of the meeting.  However Lyons for the home side was untouchable.

Racing as such was pretty limited in the early stages with heats mostly from the gate but in the latter stages the track improved and Birmingham finished strongly to claim the win although the Tigers were certainly not disgraced.

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